Voters gave Republicans control over the U.S. House and Senate, as well as more governorships and state legislatures in Tuesday's election, smashing the notion touted by MSNBC analysts after the 2012 election that the nation was turning irreversibly blue. Republicans picked up at least seven U.S. Senate seats and an additional dozen seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Attorney General Eric Holder has dispatched federal poll watchers to 18 states to watch for discrimination against voters. The Hill reports, “Monitors will head to Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.”